The annual number of defensive gun uses is frequently invoked as a measure of the benefits of gun ownership. It is typically compared to the costs as measured by the number of violent crimes committed with a firearm each year. Survey data indicate that in 1994 at least 1.5 million adults used a gun defensively against another person, many on more than one occasion. The report discusses the credibility of these and other figures on defensive gun use and the value of estimates for the ongoing debate over the public value of private gun ownership. The report also reviews and discusses the literature on defensive gun uses in the United States, and attempts to resolve the discrepancy between data gathered by the National Crime Victimization Survey and the NSPOF. Even after weeding out misinformation from data on defensive gun use, several problems remain: (1) Gun use may take the place of other means of avoiding trouble; (2) Readiness to use guns in self-defense may lead to fatal mistakes; and (3) The number of defensive gun uses tells little about the most important effects on crime of widespread gun ownership. Notes, tables